


Daniel

by thephilosophersapprentice



Series: as if these names could take our sins [5]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime 2003), Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ishbalan | Ishvalan, Ishbal | Ishval, Ishbalan | Ishvalan Alphonse Elric, Ishbalan | Ishvalan Edward Elric, Ishbalan | Ishvalan Trisha Elric, Kidnapping, Rebound, some violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-06
Updated: 2019-03-06
Packaged: 2019-11-12 18:28:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18016088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thephilosophersapprentice/pseuds/thephilosophersapprentice
Summary: After getting home from work, Edward gets an unexpected call: an Ishvalan child has been kidnapped. Of course he and Alphonse come to help.An alternate version of "Bonding Memories" (Episode 24 of the 2003 adaption.)





	Daniel

It had been a long day.

To start with, the office coffee maker had broken (not that military coffee was any good to begin with), and everyone had been in a bad mood as a result. The quartermaster had declined three vital requisition forms, leaving them with no choice but to re-fill and re-submit the forms. It took three hours of waiting with Hawkeye to get the forms processed that day, and when they returned they found Alphonse and the rest of Mustang’s staff chasing a squirrel that had somehow gotten inside around the office. No work had been completed in the interim. This, naturally, led to a last-minute filling and filing rush, which Falman had pulled Ed into, despite Ed’s atrocious handwriting. Edward was reasonably sure someone—actually, _multiple_ someones—higher up the food chain would be calling tomorrow to complain about that.

But that was tomorrow’s problem. Tonight, Edward wanted nothing more than to curl up on a couch and reread _Principles of Practical Alchemy_ —the first book Teacher had given them on the subject and something Ed already knew by heart, so he wouldn’t have to spend too much brainwork on deciphering it.

Edward was crossing the lobby, ignoring everyone around him, when the concierge asked “Major Elric?” Edward nodded automatically. “There’s a call for you,” the concierge said.

Edward walked stiffly toward the desk and picked up the phone. “Hello? Edward Elric speaking.”

“Asim, will you do me a kindness?”

The hair on the back of Edward’s neck prickled. The voice was deep, and only two people in this city knew his Ishvala-given name. Edward took a slow breath. “Sure. What do you need?”

“Just now, a group of men took a child,” Scar said. “They wore military uniforms, but they seemed to lack any sort of discipline or order. One was an alchemist.”

Edward checked to make sure the concierge wasn’t listening in before saying, “Sounds like mercenaries.”

“We need to locate them, quickly,” Scar said.

“Describe the alchemist. What was his technique?”

“He used knife blades on steel cables ejected by a backpack to form a transmutation circle, which appeared to channel electricity.”

Edward hissed through his teeth. “Unique, but he sounds like a second-rate hack. I haven’t heard of any state alchemists who work like that. I’ll make a few calls, see what I can find. Where can I meet you?”

“Be at the edge of the slum district as soon as you can. I’ll wait for you.”

“Right. I’ll be there as soon as possible.” Edward hung up.

Scar trusted him. That in itself was stunning, but… Ishvalans had no one to turn to but each other. Scar didn’t have much of a choice. But… that Scar had set a meeting place, instead of insisting on calling back in a set time frame…

Edward dialed the Hughes residence. Perhaps the lieutenant colonel was working late, but maybe he wasn’t. He was still the best option Ed had to find a group of mercenaries and a missing Ishvalan child here in Central. Falman might also know the mercenaries, but most likely wouldn’t be up to date on their hideouts.

“This is Gracia,” a soft voice said.

“Mrs. Hughes? This is Edward Elric. I need to talk to the lieutenant colonel. Is he home?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact, he just got home. I’ll put him on.”

“Thank you,” Edward said gratefully. It was hard to breathe with the relief. _Mrs. Hughes really is an angel._

“Hey, Ed. What’s up?”

“Lieutenant Colonel, I need to find a group of mercenaries. One is an alchemist who seems to use a backpack and knives on steel cables to make his arrays, which channel electricity.”

“What’s this about?” Hughes said, his voice changing from the normal light tone to his work voice, more serious; a promise that he’d be looking into this more later. Sometimes Ed almost forgot that Hughes was actually a clever and intelligent man behind his habit of talking about his family to anyone who would listen. Maybe that was deliberate.

“I don’t have time to tell you now. I just need to know where the mercenaries are.”

Hughes was silent for a moment. “There’s a warehouse. It hasn’t been leased but I’ve heard the security patrols talk about seeing lights and people in uniform but otherwise very shoddily dressed around it. The number is 2-7-5 in B section.”

“2-7-5 in B section. Thanks, sir. I owe you.”

“Ed?” Hughes interrupted before Ed could hang up. “Whatever you’re doing, be careful. The alchemist you described sounds dangerous.”

Ed laughed darkly. “The fact that he needs a backpack tells me he’s not half as dangerous as me.” He took a deep breath. “I’ll be careful. Thank Mrs. Hughes for me—she’s just as awesome as you always say.”

Edward hung up the phone and rushed to the door of their apartment. “Al! Come on! Places to be!”

“I thought you were tired,” Al said. “Where are we going?”

“I’ll tell you on the way. Come on!”

* * *

 

Scar waited silently by the truck. He still didn’t know why he had trusted the Fullmetal Alchemist like that.

Perhaps it was the concern in the boy’s voice at hearing of the kidnapping. Or perhaps it was the fact that Asim didn’t have a deceitful bone in his body.

Momentarily, Scar wondered if he had lost that along with his arm, before telling himself not to follow that line of thought.

Perhaps it was their shared blood, despite the boy’s heretical occupation. Despite the golden hair and strange eyes, he still spoke, thought and acted as a child of Ishvala.

A clatter of slightly-uneven footfalls alerted Scar to Asim’s arrival. The boy doubled over, panting. “I’ve got a likely location. It’s in the warehouse district. 2-7-5, section B. Sorry it took so long to get here. I didn’t want to risk taking a cab.”

“Are you afraid of being seen with your own kin?” Scar asked.

“No, didn’t want to bring anyone else’s attention to you if it wasn’t already here,” Asim panted.

“Get in the car,” Scar ordered. “You can rest on the way there.”

Surprise flooded the boy’s face. “I thought—”

“You were willing to drop everything to come help. Any help at all, no matter how strange, is something we can not refuse,” said the elder.

Asim glanced at him as the armored boy practically lifted him into the car. Between the five of them, it was crowded, but they made do. Scar turned the stolen vehicle toward the warehouse district.

There was silence for a few minutes.

“You’re the state alchemist, aren’t you?” Leo asked. “The one who betrayed us that far.”

Scar couldn’t see Asim’s face as the boy admitted, “Yes.” His voice was rough and quiet—far quieter than Scar was used to hearing.

“Why are you here?”

Asim breathed in slowly. “Because I know what it’s like to lose the only family you have left, and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.” There was a pause. “I know what it’s like to be afraid.”

It didn’t seem that Leo had expected that; he fell silent again for a while. Then, “With your hair and eyes, I bet no one suspects that you’re actually one of us.”

Asim shifted suddenly; Scar could feel it in the seats and the bed of the truck. “You think I _want_ to look more like my father than my mother?” he snapped. “ _She_ never chose to abandon us! Family _meant_ something to her!”

“Ed,” Alphonse said softly. “Let it go.”

“So… your _Amestrian_ dad walked out on you. At least he _had_ an excuse.”

Edward nearly lunged out of the seat, but Alphonse held him back.

“Leo,” the elder said softly. “Why goad people with things you know will hurt them?”

“Your mom didn’t turn and run,” Leo hissed.

“You’re just like Brother,” Alphonse said quietly; by the clanking and rustle of fabric, Asim had stiffened against him. “You don’t want anyone to know you’re hurting, so you lash out and hurt other people.”

Asim and Leo both froze.

“So,” Asim said, quietly, his voice difficult to read. “What about your mom?”

“When the soldiers came to the door, she turned and ran. She left us behind.”

In the rearview mirror, Asim looked like he was about to throw up.

“I never told Ric. But I promised myself I’d protect him.”

“Trust me,” Asim said, gritting out the words, “you’re doing way better at that than I am.”

* * *

 

The warehouse district was quiet.

Alphonse took an extra moment to help Ed down from the truck. “Ed—”

“I’m fine,” Edward said, his voice taut. He wasn’t fine, not really. But he would hold it together until they arrived back at their apartment later, and then fall apart where no one could see.

Alphonse took point as they approached number 2-7-5. He gestured to Ed to stay back, then made his way to the warehouse, peering through a crack in the boarded-up, broken windows. He began to mark out a transmutation circle on the wall to restrain the mercenaries inside, glancing over his shoulder. True to form, Edward had marked what he was doing and watched, eyes narrowed. Alphonse raised his hand—five, then three fingers held up. Eight men who wouldn’t be trapped by the transmutation. Edward gave a terse nod, pressing his palms together in preparation.

Alphonse activated his array. Edward dashed up to the side of the warehouse, simply deconstructing the wall. Ric was right there—Edward grabbed him and pulled him out of the way as Alphonse charged in and Scar entered from the other side, attacking the remaining mercenaries. Alphonse charged straight for the alchemist, who ducked under a swing and dashed for the main doors. Scar and Alphonse followed hotly.

Ed was just entrusting Ric to his brother; that done, he sprinted back up the hill, transmuting a blade to the protective plate of his forearm. Alphonse threw a mercenary over his shoulder; Edward cut a deep gouge into a pistol barrel. Scar grabbed another man by the throat.

If there was one thing that bothered Alphonse about following his brother into a fight, it was the way Edward seemed to be everywhere at once; the way he pursued opponents erratically and was impossible to predict. Sometimes Alphonse feared that he might severely injure Ed by accident.

Edward darted toward the other alchemist, trading blows with him and sidestepping, then gouging at the pack as the man stumbled past him.

He’d misjudged it. The pack activated with Ed at the center of the array.

Edward kicked out one blade, then another. The array shimmered in and out, unstable. Edward seized another point on the array, then cried out as the transmutation energy arced through his body.

Even without Ed’s uncanny ability to discern and reorient the key points in an array, Alphonse could see with terrible clarity just how it had gone wrong.

The alchemic reaction surged out of control with Edward both as the catalyst and the power source. Edward’s body seized, the blade still clenched in one hand—

“Edward!” Alphonse screamed.

Edward pressed his palms together and the ground rippled as he seized control, just in time to stop the arcs from striking all around, turning them in on their source—

The mercenary’s pack exploded, hurling Edward backward, shrapnel falling all around like a sharp and glittering crystal rain.

Alphonse rushed to Ed’s side as Scar took hold of the fallen alchemist.

“Brother, are you all right?”

“Men such as you should not seek destruction, lest you find it.”

Ric stumbled toward them, dazed, a leftover blade buried in his tunic. Edward pushed himself up. “No,” he whispered, horrified.

Ric reached into his tunic and pulled out a dented silver locket, the point of the knife falling away from it. Leo gasped. Edward exhaled slowly and slumped against Alphonse, his automail ringing hollowly against the armor. “I don’t believe in fate, but…”

Ric fumbled with the locket. Four small seeds? pills? fell out, revealing a picture of a much younger Leo and Ric with a beautiful Ishvalan woman… Maybe someone else would have called her plain, but she was a mother, and that made her beautiful.

 _Mom,_ Alphonse thought, _I miss you._

The elder picked up one of the seeds, frowning at it. “This looks like the medicine used to treat degenerative eye conditions.”

“Are you saying—” Leo began.

“It seems your mother was losing her eyesight,” the elder confirmed.

“She ran—didn’t go for the back door—into our _room_ ,” Leo whispered. “She was trying to save us.”

Maybe Hohenheim wasn’t as bad as Edward thought him, either…

“Why did you come for me? You’re an outsider,” Ric said, staring at Ed.

Edward took a deep breath. “I hope I’d have come even if I _was_ an outsider,” he said. “But if we don’t look after our own people, then who’s going to look after us?”

Ric frowned slightly.

“Our mother was Ishvalan,” Alphonse said. “We might not look like her, but…”

Ric turned back to Edward, his mouth falling open. “You’re the state alchemist?”

Edward nodded silently.

“Why?”

“I have my brother to look out for,” Edward said, the knuckles of his automail rapping softly on Alphonse’s armor. “I promised Mom… and I failed. I got Al hurt. I’m not going to mess up again. And… I also want to change how Amestris sees people like us.”

“But why use alchemy?” Ric asked. “Ishvala forbids it.”

Edward sighed, his head tilting forward, gold bangs shifting around his face. “It’s been ten years and I still don’t know how to answer that,” he said.

“You told me your mother liked it,” Scar said.

“I think she only liked it because of our dad… I told myself that if I could do some good, it would be worthwhile.” Edward hung his head. His silences always meant guilt, self-blame. After having been by Ed’s side his entire life, Al knew at least that much.

“Do you not think it’s worthwhile anymore?” Ric asked.

“I just can’t see the path…” Edward murmured.

“Mom used to say that sometimes leaving something half-done is worse than not doing it at all,” Ric said.

“Yeah,” Edward murmured. “Our dad said pretty much the same thing.”

“Dad?” Alphonse asked.

“I’ll explain later,” Ed said softly. “Help me up?”

Alphonse stood, lifting Ed along with him. “You’re not hurt, are you?”

“Just bruised,” Edward confirmed. “And sore… I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure? That whole transmutation routed itself through you—”

“We take risks like that every time we perform alchemy, remember? It’s nothing new.”

“If it’s that dangerous then why do it?” Ric protested.

Edward stretched, automail clicking as he lifted it above his head. He grimaced. “I still have to keep my promise to Mom.”

Scar glanced from Ed to Al, his brows slightly furrowed in thought. Connecting what he’d learned—the older man was no fool.

“We’ll come to see you whenever we can,” Edward said. “I think we sometimes lose our path… seeing you again might help us find it again.” He offered his right hand to Ric. “My name’s Asim.”

“And mine is Latif,” Alphonse added.

“You called him ‘Edward,’” Ric said.

Ed shrugged. “When we were kids our neighbors called us Edward and Alphonse, to keep the soldiers from finding and killing us. We couldn’t call each other by our real names in public… so we got used to calling ourselves Edward and Alphonse.”

“That’s awful,” Ric said.

Ed offered him a sad half-smile. “No one ever said the world was fair.”

“We want to make it more just,” Alphonse said. Edward turned that sad, jaded expression toward him.

“Maybe one day.”

“We can drive you part of the way home,” Scar offered. Ed nodded.

The ride back was quiet.

Edward stepped down from the bed of the jeep and stood beside it, making eye contact with Scar. “Thank you. For calling me.”

“I may ask your aid again, should something of this sort happen another day?”

Edward nodded.

“I will see you again, then,” Scar said. “Ishvala keep you, Asim and Latif.”

They stood and watched as the jeep drove away into the deepening night.

**Author's Note:**

> "Latif" is an Arabic name that means "kindness, gentleness, generosity." It fits Alphonse very well, I think. Again, I've been getting all this from Google--please let me know if I've missed the mark.
> 
> Some of the themes expressed in "Bonding Memories" just worked extremely well for this universe, so I thought I'd add my own version.
> 
> Probably you know the story of Daniel in the lions' den, but that's only a smaller part of the larger story of Daniel. He was a prophet during the Babylonian exile, paralleling Ed and Al's struggle with their conflicts of faith while being so far from home.


End file.
